


The Promise

by Thepenismightier



Series: Now and Then [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Thrawn Trilogy - Timothy Zahn, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017)
Genre: Angst, Defeat, F/M, Forgiveness, Future, Romance, Sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-10-07 04:32:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17359016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thepenismightier/pseuds/Thepenismightier
Summary: On a small, barren planet Thrawn and Hera made a promise. The war raged, lives and loved ones were lost. The two must overcome their loses in order to make good on a promise.





	1. It only hurts when I breathe

**Author's Note:**

> The first step is always the worst...

Hera woke up in a cold sweat with her sheets tossed onto the floor. While the war was over, battles were still being fought throughout the galaxy. That fact kept the General up at night. 

That and a cool, calm voice that called to her whenever she managed to drift off to sleep. 

When she finally did manage to drift off, he was there waiting for her in his pristine white uniform. His hands were always folded behind his back, his stance as professional as it would have been on the bridge of his Star Destroyer. He gazed at her expectantly, waiting for her to take her place. 

The dream was always the same. She would wake riddled with guilt, reminding herself that Kanan was gone and Ezra had disappeared because of him. The man she’d met on that tiny wasteland was nothing more than wishful thinking— a way for him to disarm her. 

Chopper rolled into her quarters and began his usual fussing. He scrolled through long list of agendas that mostly had to do with maintenance on the Ghost before he got to an unexpected detail. 

“An encrypted message? From where?”

Chopper snapped back at her irritably. 

“Yes I know what encrypted means, Chopper. I’ll pull it up and get to work.”

Chopper didn’t seem impressed, waving her off dismissively as he rolled away. 

Hera rolled off of her cot and sauntered her way up to the cockpit of the Ghost. It seemed much, much bigger without her crew. Sabine had taken on searching for Ezra while Zeb and Kallus worked on their own relationship. That left her and Chopper alone. 

She flooped down into the pilot’s seat with a heavy sigh and worked on decrypting the message so that she could view it.

Hera drew in a deep, shuddering breath as a familiar face flickered on the holoscreen...


	2. Loud and Clear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How could she possibly say no?

Here stared at the screen as if she’d seen a ghost; her face went pale, her hands trembled, and her mouth went completely dry. Reports that all Grand Admirals had been killed in battle or at the very least, apprehended were obviously incorrect. Before her, the pale blue face of Grand Admiral Thrawn wore a haughty expression with the right corner of his mouth upturned in a smirk. 

A trembling finger pressed a small, orange button on the display and the message played again. His calm, silken voice greeted her. 

“It’s been some time, Ch’eo. I believe we have an accord that I intend on upholding.” His tone was formal, his posture set to match. Hera’s eyes narrowed at the screen as the message continued. “I’m sure no reminder is needed. Two standard days to allow for travel, General. It should be plenty of time given your current location. Your destination is Vaynai, as planned.” His mouth stretch into a cold, detached smile. “And Hera— save us both the trouble of me coming after you. Our time is precious.”

His face vanished and the screen went black. Hera attempted to process everything she could from the message. First, he seemed awfully uninviting for someone who was extending an invitation. She wondered if the Empire’s loss had turned their arrangement into something more sinister. Or perhaps it would turn into some sort of diplomatic mission. In any case, Hera had a bad feeling about it. 

When she’d left him on that planet, their parting was full of hope and promise. As the Rebellion grew and the war waged on, Hera lost sight of what had developed between them. What she felt as she stared at the screen was, at best, complicated beyond words. 

There was dread because he’d survived and relief for the same reason. Anger for the lives that had been lost. And fear because she knew that she couldn’t ignore the longing that sprang in her chest. His voice, his eyes, they called to something in her that she hadn’t considered when they were together nor for a number of painful years while they were apart— something that ached at the idea of his absence. 

“Chopper!” Hera rolled out of the pilot’s seat and ran through the ship until she almost collided with the astromech. 

“I’ve got a mission. I need you to stay here. I’ll come back for you when it’s time.”

The complaints started instantaneously. 

“No, you need to stay here in case Sabine comes back with news about Ezra. You need to wait. I won’t be gone long.”

Hera was already closing the hatch before the last words left her mouth.


	3. Dread

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hera is painfully close...

From her location, the trip to Vaynai took two standard days. That was two days worth of anxiety thick and heavy enough to choke a supernova. She tried to reason with herself; after all, if she didn’t like what she heard she could always leave. And it wasn’t as if she was unarmed, so if their meeting turned out to be some cruel, elaborate trick...

The starlines suddenly came to an abrupt halt as the Ghost exited hyperspace. The hyperspace lane she’d chosen dropped her an hour and a half from her approach to Vaynai. That was plenty of time to work herself up into near panic. 

Realistically, they’d spent but a few days together. They’d relied on each other to survive and had even saved each other. Thrawn has given her an explanation of his actions that seemed convincing at the time but— she wondered if all of it had been an insurance policy if the Empire fell to the Rebellion. He’d disarmed her so easily it was slightly embarrassing to think about. 

They’d slept together several times. By the end, he’d won her heart. All of it was fast and fierce, leaving her head spinning. She’d told herself that time would dull the pain in her heart, that duty would drown the incessant song it sang for him and him alone. Neither came to pass. She’d learned to live with it but not a day passed where he wasn’t in her thoughts. 

She told herself again that she could leave if something seemed off but deep down she knew it wasn’t true. Deep down, Hera knew what had happened to her on that dusty red planet...

“You’re cleared for landing. Dock 22. Welcome to Vaynai!” A pleasant voice called out, breaking her from her deep thoughts. Hera whipped off her gloves and down shifted the Ghost’s approach to the resort planet. The material seemed to dull the nerves in her hands. Or perhaps she was going completely numb as a defense mechanism. Her sense of foreboding grew along with the planet’s size as the light freighter drew closer...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A small update to keep you going!


End file.
